I've looked through the forums, and have done a lot of thinking myself, and I believe what it comes down to is a false assumption. I understand that the force pulling m1 and m2 is m1g, and that the tension that then pulls m2 is equal to m1g, leading to an acceleration of m1g/m2 and subsequently the correct answer, but I do not understand what is incorrect about concluding that the system (looking at m2 and m1) as a whole accelerates at m1g/(m1+m2). Gut feeling tells me that the conclusion I've made is incorrect because the acceleration would be m1g/(m1+m2) in an inertial frame, but not in this case because it is part of an accelerating system.